Stay
by kusaihana
Summary: Haru is desperate for Rin to stay. How far is he willing to go to keep Rin by his side? RinHaru smut, borderline non-con.
1. Stay

_"Haru! I win. This means I'll never swim with you again."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Never."_

* * *

Haru felt numb. He'd been rooted to his spot in lane 5 for a good thirty seconds, watching Rin walk away, the shouts of Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei falling on deaf ears, until one of the coaches had come over and forced him out of the water. Rin was going to leave him again. Scratch that, he was already gone. Never. He was never going to swim with Rin again.

A wave a frustration flooded his vision, frustration at losing… but he had never wanted to win. What he wanted was Rin. All he had ever wanted was to see Rin smile again. And he had gotten his wish. Rin was smiling, smiling at the insurmountable pain swirling in Haru's eyes. He had to have seen it, seen how his words broke Haru's heart like a piece of glass, but he had walked away effortlessly. Haru slammed his locker door shut as hard as he could before banging his head down against it. He did it again and again and again until his head was throbbing in pain. He probably looked stupid right now, weak and pathetic, but that's how he felt. No amount of pain could surpass the pain in his chest at this very moment. He felt frozen again; he felt no motivation to move, so he didn't. Alone in the locker room he stood and waited, waited for Rin. He wasn't going to move until Rin came for him. He sighed, what a stupid thought to have. Rin wasn't coming. Rin wasn't coming. Rin wasn't coming. He felt his eyes start to prick with tears and he gritted his teeth in an effort to force them back. Why was he getting so emotional right now? He never lost control of his emotions.

Before he could think on this further, he heard footsteps. Glancing over his shoulder reluctantly, he waited for the poor soul who was going to find him in this state to emerge from around the corner. His heart stuttered and his eyes flew open in shock as a dark red mop of hair and pearly white shark teeth came into view. Rin was glowing, positively glowing. The smile on his face couldn't be any bigger even if he tried. But that smile quickly faded when his eyes met Haru's. Rin gave him a scathing look, his eyes carefully scanning his body, before he turned around and headed back in the direction he'd come in. He was leaving. Rin was leaving. Haru's body propelled him forward before his mind even had the chance to think twice. He latched onto Rin's wrist with all his strength.

"Stay." he pleaded, staring into Rin's eyes with all the force he could muster. He was desperately trying to communicate his feelings to Rin, to make him understand everything he wanted to say in that moment but couldn't. Rin remained silent, his eyes glancing down to Haru's hand before returning to his face. He slowly twisted his hand out of Haru's grip and advanced on him, forcing him back against the lockers. Haru was pinned, just like before when Rin had pounced on him in the parking lot. But this time he felt no desire to fight back. As Rin's hands came to rest on either side of his head, he almost started crying again just from happiness. The pain in his chest was loosening. At least in this moment, Rin wasn't leaving anymore.

"Why should I?" his eyes flashed threateningly, his voice a slow and deadly croon.

Haru remained silent; his voice was caught in his throat. Rin smirked when he noticed that Haru was shaking slightly.

"There isn't a reason for me to chase you anymore, I've already taken everything that I could possibly want from you." His teeth were bared maliciously as he leaned in even closer to Haru.

Haru could feel Rin's warm breath ghost over his lips. His body began to shake more noticeably as he searched his mind desperately for a reason to make Rin stay. Since that fateful race when they were kids, Rin had only ever wanted to beat Haru. Beating Haru meant moving forward and achieving his father's dream. It was the only thing he truly cared about. What could Haru possibly offer him? Just then, Rin ran his tongue over his bottom lip, almost imperceptibly, and Haru's eyes followed it on instinct. A completely impossible idea crossed Haru's mind.

"Not everything." He murmured. Haru raised his hands hesitantly from his sides to wrap them slowly around Rin's neck. He looked puzzled but he didn't pull away.

"Huh?" He raised a single eyebrow incredulously, staring down at Haru inquisitively.

"You haven't taken everything yet." Haru murmured, slightly louder this time, his cool blue eyes burning into Rin's scarlet gaze. He pulled himself even closer to Rin, lightly pushing his body up against his. He had to make sure Rin understood what he was offering him. At this point, Haru realized that he had ventured beyond the point of desperation, this was borderline yandere, but he refused to let go of Rin, not if he could keep him by offering him his body.

Rin tilted his head slightly to the side, his eyes still refusing to leave Haru's. He seemed to be sizing him up, weighing his options. He pulled his bottom lip into his mouth slightly, chewing on it in thought. Haru's eyes were instantly drawn to the motion and a smirk broke out on Rin's face when he noticed Haru's reaction to such a simple little quirk of his. He decided he'd take the bait. He could tell that Haru was broken up inside, could tell that he was falling apart, but it didn't phase him. What drew him in was the knowledge that accepting Haru's offer, laying claim to his body, would only make his victory that much sweeter. It would only cause Haru that much more pain when he left him behind without a second glance. Rin was going to shatter him, right here, right now.

Not bothering to wait another second, Rin forced his mouth onto Haru's, slamming him back against the lockers. Haru winced when his stilling throbbing head hit the metal but Rin ignored it. One of his hands left the lockers to twist into the fine hairs at the nape of Haru's neck, pulling his head back and forcing his mouth open. Haru could feel Rin's tongue pushing into his mouth, scraping across the roof of his mouth and dominating him completely. He weakly tried to reciprocate but Rin would clamp his lips shut the moment Haru tried to taste the inside of his mouth. Instead, he'd bite him sharply on the lip and pull his head back even farther.

Growing tired of their kiss, Rin moved his lips down to Haru's neck, pulling his head to the side to expose his pale skin to his ravenous mouth. He bit down sharply on the juncture of Haru's neck and shoulder, punctuating the bite with a slow roll of his hips against Haru's. Haru moaned breathily as both pleasure and pain coursed through him. Rin laved his tongue over the skin, sucking on the wound until Haru's skin became a mottled shade of purple. When Rin's hips stilled, Haru gave a sort of impatient whine and pushed one of his legs between Rin's, rubbing his thigh against the crotch of his swimsuit. Rin growled darkly at Haru's boldness and punished him by pulling away, holding him out at arm's length. Haru looked dejected at the loss of contact. He reached his hand out towards Rin's swimsuit, wanting to hook his finger under his waistband and pull him close to him again, to feel his warmth pressed against him. Rin slapped his hand away and took another step back. He considered Haru for a moment before boldly pulling the band of his swimsuit down to the middle of his thighs. Haru blushed at the sight of Rin's erection, quickly looking away in embarrassment but Rin grabbed his jaw and forced him to look into his eyes.

"Suck me off," he stated bluntly, before leaning in and whispering hotly into his ear, "Haruka."

Haru's knees shook at Rin's dirty talk. Rin's hands slid up to Haru's shoulders, gently pushing him down onto his knees. He kept his hands on Haru's shoulders as he inched closer to him, his dick practically poking Haru in the nose at this point. As Haru hesitantly reached out with one hand to grip the base, he considered backing down. Maybe this was a mistake. He'd never done anything like this before. He was determined to stop Rin from leaving but a voice in the back of his mind kept telling him to stop this before it was too late. _Run away, Haru. I'll protect you, Haru._ Haru's heart stuttered momentarily when he realized whom the voice belonged to. It was Makoto's voice.

Rin noticed the pained look on Haru's face and grew impatient.

"Are you going to do it or not?" Haru could hear the exasperation in his tone. His fear of losing Rin flashed hot and bright through his heart and Makoto's voice was effectively silenced. Without another second of hesitation, he opened his mouth and leaned forward, pulling the tip of Rin's erection into his mouth. Rin hissed softly and placed one of his hands on the back of Haru's head, silently encouraging him to continue. Haru opened his mouth wider and stuck out his tongue as he tried to take more of Rin into his mouth. It was a lot more difficult than he had expected, given Rin's exceptional length and girth, and soon his eyes were watering slightly. He pulled back and ran his mouth down both sides of Rin's dick, coating him in saliva. He returned to his head, closing his eyes and focusing on rubbing his tongue in slow circles around the tip, occasionally licking his slit as beads of precum accumulated there. He could feel Rin's nails beginning to scrape across his scalp, knotting and unknotting his fingers in Haru's silky black hair. Haru swore it was the most amazing feeling in the world. He moaned throatily as he continued to focus on pleasuring Rin. He felt Rin stiffen at the sound of his moans. Rin slowly began to bend forward, curving his torso over Haru's head. With a slight jerk of his hips, he pushed Haru's head forward, forcing him to take more of him into his mouth. Haru began coughing at the sensation and tried to pull back but Rin held him in place. After a few more fruitless attempts at freeing himself from Rin's grip, Haru submitted to the inevitable and focused on breathing through his nose as Rin proceeded to soundly fuck his mouth. Tears began to stream down his face and awful gagging noises resounded through the locker room. Haru squinted his eyes shut as Rin jerked his head forward in time with his hips, his cock reaching the back of his throat with every thrust. He could hear Rin moaning uncontrollably between soft utterances of expletives. His thrusting became slightly more erratic and Haru could tell he was going to reach his climax soon. He opened his eyes slightly to try and catch a glimpse of Rin's face but the angle at which Rin was holding his head prevented him from doing so. With a final deep thrust forward, Haru heard himself gag especially loudly and felt his nose nestle against Rin's pubic hair around the base of his cock as Rin steadily held him in place, breathing heavily as hot streams of cum hit the back of Haru's throat. When he was finally spent, Rin released his hold on Haru's head and Haru pulled back as quickly as he could, coughing loudly. He had thick streams of saliva pouring down the sides of his mouth and his eyes were red and puffy. He looked like hell but Rin couldn't wait to break him in. Rin bent down so he could kneel between Haru's legs. Haru looked up at him hopefully, maybe in search of some kind of recognition for allowing Rin to rape his mouth so thoroughly but Rin refused to meet his gaze. Rin gripped the waistband of Haru's swimsuit with both hands and roughly pulled it down his legs in one swift motion. He didn't hesitate to remove Haru's shirt next. Haru subconsciously moved his hands to cover himself but Rin grabbed his wrists and pulled them apart, keeping Haru fully exposed. With a cheeky grin, he leaned forward and connected his mouth with Haru's a second time. He pushed his tongue past his lips, wanting to taste himself on Haru's tongue. The bitter taste of his cum still lingered there and he took great satisfaction in knowing that Haru had swallowed his cum so unquestioningly, so willingly, like it was a fucking Christmas gift wrapped in shiny paper.

He pulled back, still smirking at the sight of Haru's heaving chest and swollen lips. He brought three of his fingers to Haru's lips and Haru took them into his mouth without faltering for even a moment. He knew enough about gay sex to know what came next. He coated Rin's fingers with as much of his saliva as possible, running his tongue in between each finger and licking up and down both sides of each digit. When Rin seemed satisfied, he removed his fingers from Haru's mouth and slowly brought them down to his ass, rubbing them against his entrance teasingly. Haru shivered and threw his head back as he felt the first finger enter him. Despite Rin's fingers being coated in saliva, it still felt unpleasantly raw and Haru cringed slightly at the introduction of a second finger. He wished Rin would slow down a little. He had been trying to meet Rin's gaze ever since their first kiss but Rin stubbornly refused to lock eyes with Haru. It was starting to bother Haru more and more. He needed to know what Rin was feeling in this moment and he knew that the answer was waiting for him in those vivid scarlet irises.

He lost his train of thought as Rin abruptly pushed in a third finger, stretching and scissoring Haru's ass mercilessly. He wanted to finish this tedious process as quickly as possible. He knew Haru would feel incredibly tight and hot around him and just the thought of it was making him hard again. He used his other hand to push one of Haru's knees back, forcing him to open up more for him. Haru mewled as Rin's fingers pushed deeper inside of him, scraping against his insides and stretching him as much as possible. Satisfied with his work, Rin removed his fingers and stood up, grabbing Haru's arm in the process to pull him up with him. He guided Haru back towards the lockers and, pressing himself between Haru's legs, he reached down and hooked his hands behind Haru's knees. Haru got the message and leaned back against the lockers as Rin brought his legs up to wrap around his waist.

Pushing himself as close to Haru as possible and effectively spreading his hips in the process, Rin reached behind Haru to position his dick at his entrance. He could feel Haru's eyes desperately roaming his face but he kept his gaze cast downwards. With a slight push forward, he felt his tip enter Haru. Haru gasped at the sensation and squirmed slightly in discomfort as Rin continued to guide himself the rest of the way in.

Haru didn't like this. He was too full, too stretched, and the pain was starting to show on his face. More than the physical pain, it was the pain in his chest that was starting to consume him. Despite everything that had happened between them up until this point, Haru hadn't felt a thing. Sure, he felt Rin's hands on his hips holding hard enough to bruise as he began to thrust into him; he felt the ice-cold metal of the lockers rubbing against his back as Rin thoroughly pounded him against them. But his heart, though beating erratically, felt like a dead weight, a stone on the verge of cracking under the pressure of it all. Without fail, Rin avoided Haru's eyes, refusing to let him in. A moan, born of both pleasure and pain, ripped itself from Haru's throat as Rin began to pick up the pace of his thrusts. His hands scraped desperately at Rin's shoulders, trying to find some sort of purchase on the slick flesh but his nails succeeded only in scratching blindly at his shoulder blades.

Swallowing a moan, Haru forced himself to speak. "R-Rin… ah… Rin, I l-lo—"

Rin immediately brought his hand to Haru's mouth, stopping Haru from speaking those three precious words. Haru was shocked at first, his lips agape against Rin's hand, but when the shock wore off agony took its place. He could feel his eyes brimming with tears for the third time since they began but he did nothing to stop them.

In a last ditch effort to have his feelings reach him, Haru grabbed Rin's face with both hands and forced him to look up at him. What he saw there shattered his heart for good.

Rin's eyes were glazed over in lust and his vision was clouded from the heat and passion of the sex itself but there was nothing else there. Nothing.

Haru stared deeply into his eyes for what felt like an eternity before Rin broke the connection and returned his focus to impaling Haru on his cock.

Nothing. Rin's eyes had held nothing. When Haru looked at Rin, his eyes overflowed with love and devotion and a desire to never be apart. Rin's eyes held nothing for him. It really was too late. Haru had nothing left to offer Rin; his virginity was nothing more than the icing on the cake.

He turned his head to the side, no longer content with Rin's hand smothering his mouth. He scrunched his eyes shut and tried to block out the feeling of Rin invading his most private place. He was an idiot, a complete and utter idiot. Makoto was right; he should've run away when he had the chance.

By now, Rin had noticed how quiet Haru had become. He wasn't moaning or shaking or scraping his nails across his back anymore. He just sat there, legs still locked around his waist, but with his eyes shut and his head turned to the side. It was like he was suddenly fucking a dead person or some freaky doll. It was actually starting to turn him off. Rin resented Haru pouting like this. What did he expect? Some teary-eyed love confession as they climaxed together? What a joke. Haru was a joke, and Rin had outgrown him.

After another minute or so of half-hearted thrusting, Rin came inside of Haru, releasing himself as deeply as possible. At least he could take satisfaction in knowing that Haru's insides were now coated in his seed. Haru's legs slowly unhooked themselves from Rin's waist and as Rin gradually sank to the ground from exhaustion, Haru sank with him. For a few minutes, they just sat there: Rin panting heavily and Haru leaning back against the lockers lifelessly and without even the slightest flicker of emotion crossing his face. When Rin finally managed to catch his breath, he stood up leisurely, pausing to tuck himself back into his swimsuit before glancing down at Haru. He looked completely pathetic, naked and limp as a rag doll with Rin's spunk slowly leaking from his ass.

Rin gave a single mirthless chuckle before turning to leave. As he headed for the entrance to the locker room, he paused for a moment as if to say something, but thought better of it, choosing instead to smirk at some sort of personal joke he had with himself. The door closed behind him with the softest of clicks.

Rin was gone. Haru remained unmoving for what felt like centuries. He felt Rin's cum grow cold and dry on his thighs. With considerable effort, he brought his hand to his chest, searching for a heart beat.

Nothing.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated. :)


	2. Falling Apart

Rin was dreaming again. He stood at Haru's front door, insistently ringing the doorbell. There was no response; he let himself in. Just like in his previous dream, he wandered into the living room first. He noticed the same red goldfish floating in it's bowl but it appeared strangely still. Before he could step closer to get a better look, he heard a creaking sound behind him. He whirled around, expecting Haru to be standing there but there was no one. He decided to check the bathroom. He knew that Haru spent most of his time at home in his bath but the bathroom yielded no Haru. Just a bathtub filled to the brim with murky dank water the color of slime. Repulsed, Rin fled the bathroom, a sudden feeling of dread entering the pit of his stomach at his inability to locate Haru.

He climbed to the second floor in order to search Haru's bedroom. Pausing in front of the door to Haru's room, Rin could hear weird strangled sounds coming from inside the room. Was Haru hurt? He flung the door open in alarm. The sounds were definitely coming from Haru, who was currently lying on the floor. His eyes were clenched tightly shut, but not in pain. His cheeks were burning red. His chest was rising and falling rapidly and he was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. He was also completely naked and slowly stroking himself. Rin stared in shock before quickly averting his eyes. He had never imagined Haru would do these kinds of things in his free time; for all of the time Rin had known him, Haru had never shown any overt sexual tendencies. Well, not until their little "meeting" in the locker room. Rin had also never considered himself to be a voyeur, but there he was, hesitantly returning his eyes to the sinfully sexy portrait before him. He could feel his own arousal coming to life as Haru's labored breathing became wanton moaning. Haru titled his head back slightly and finally opened his eyes. As he stared at Rin, his gaze glazed over with lust and desire. He reached out for Rin, silently beckoning him to his side. Rin obliged him, falling softly to his knees beside Haru's head. He went down on all fours so his lips could hover dangerously close above Haru's. Haru's breath hitched and he whined softly, desperate for Rin to touch him. Rin smirked, Haru's unwavering devotion to him never failed to boost his ego. Finally, he bent down and connected their lips, kissing Haru softly and slowly. He pulled away after a few seconds, his eyes drifting open, and the sight that greeted him was horrific to say the least. Where Rin's lips had touched his, Haru's own lips had begun to tear open and bleed profusely. Haru gave him a questioning look, confused by the fear he saw in Rin's eyes, and raised a hand to his lips. He saw the blood on his fingertips as he withdrew his hand; his gaze shifted to meet Rin's, his blue eyes swimming with bewilderment and something bordering joy.

"Touch me, Rin." he whispered, reaching out to grab one of his arms. Rin immediately pulled away, unsure of Haru's intentions, but Haru managed to grab his hand and yank him forward, pressing the palm of his hand to his chest, directly over his heart. Where Rin's skin met Haru's, the flesh began to tear open. Rin began to strain furiously against Haru's grip, cringing at the sight of blood dripping thickly down Haru's chest.

"Haru, stop it, let go!" Rin cried desperately; he didn't like the look in Haru's eyes, the strange pleasure flickering in his azure irises.

"Why? I like it when you touch me. I want you to stay with me Rin." Haru purred, "I like the way it hurts."

Rin's heart clenched at his words. He became almost frantic in his desperation to remove his hand from Haru's chest. But it was to no avail; Haru's grip was like cement, refusing to release Rin. Rin watched, mortified, as Haru's body melted down to blood and bone before his very eyes. This was no dream; it was a nightmare.

Suddenly, he could feel himself falling… into water. He rose to the surface, gasping for air. He was in a pool, an Olympic pool. He was at the Olympics! The gruesome image of Haru's disfigured body left his mind as he swam over to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out of the water. A middle-aged man was waiting for him to guide him over to the winner's pedestals. Rin followed closely behind and did not falter in assuming his rightful place on the highest block. He bent forward as an older and more distinguished-looking man stepped forward to hang a gold medal around his neck. The stadium full of people burst into cheers as Rin threw a first into the air in victory. He scanned the massive crowd and with the sort of magic accuracy that only a dream can grant, he located his family in the stands. His father, mother, and sister were all seated together in a row. He waved and called out to them but the smile fell from his face as he watched his mother and Gou frown and turn their heads away, as if they didn't recognize him. He looked to his dad for recognition but his father's expression was even worse than that of his mother and sister. His face was full of anguish and disappointment and he simply shook his head before turning away as well. Rin cried out to them again and again in desperation but they refused to look at him. The cheers of the crowd slowly transformed into horrid screaming.

He felt his pedestal turn lumpy and squishy beneath his feet and he looked down to see the emaciated bodies of Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa forming the platform upon which he stood.

He woke suddenly with a cry and sat upright in bed. He was drenched in cold sweat and Nitori was hovering by his bedside, looking worried.

"I'm sorry, Senpai. I should've woken you up sooner. You must've been having a really bad dream because you started calling out names and then I noticed you were crying so I—"

"Crying?" Rin gingerly raised a hand to touch his cheek. He could definitely feel the traces of tears there. He scowled and quickly rubbed them away.

"It was nothing, Nitori. Go back to sleep."

* * *

It was late at night when Haru finally returned home. He had no idea how long he had laid in that locker room, paralyzed by the fact of what had just happened between him and Rin. When he had finally managed to pull himself up off the floor, he took a quick shower in order to wash all remaining traces of Rin from his body. He thought that he might start crying again but, surprisingly, he didn't shed a single tear. His body had shut down and was refusing to show any outward signs of emotion. It was better this way. Haru felt vulnerable after allowing his emotions to take such complete control over of him; he should have forced himself to remain stoic and impassive like he always did; that way, he never got hurt. But in this case, his fear of losing Rin again had consumed him.

He changed back into his Iwatobi track suit and left the locker room with a heavy weight in his chest. Leaving that locker room was like entering a world he never knew existed. A world outside of Rin's empty heated gaze, a world free of Rin's heavy breath on his neck. He shuddered at the memories, he couldn't seem to shake Rin's presence from his mind. He left regionals without saying a single word to Makoto, Nagisa, Rei, or Gou. He couldn't stand to face them at a time like this. Haru wandered listlessly for hours, his head filled with regret. He should've known it was too late. He had lost Rin years ago and throwing himself at Rin so desperately had only been asking for more pain. He eventually ended up at the Iwatobi pool. It was dark out and the surface of the water reflected the thousands of stars now making themselves known among the endless black. Haru bent down and extended his hand, intending to run his fingers through the cool water. But something stopped him. His heart clenched and something felt ominously out of place. He stared at the water, trying to find the answers to the unasked questions in his head, but he found nothing. He withdrew his hand and stood up. He suddenly felt dizzy, like he was about to pass out. A single thought was crashing around in his mind like a fire alarm. _He didn't want to swim._ The thought of the ice cold water of the pool enclosing his body suddenly made him feel sick to his stomach. He fled the school, feeling cold sweat break out across his skin. He just wanted to get home as soon as possible.

When he saw lights on in his house, he paused. Makoto maybe? His head was spinning from sprinting home. He opened the front door, his breathing still a little labored, and was greeted by Makoto sitting in his entryway and sleeping peacefully against a wall. He had to smile slightly at the sight. Why was Makoto at his house this late at night? He noticed his cellphone held loosely in Makoto's hands. He removed it gently to avoid waking him and flipped open the phone. He had one voicemail, he played it back.

_~Playing new message.~_

_"Haru-chan? Where are you right now?"_

_"Please hurry home. We're all worried."_

_"I'm sorry, Haruka-senpai! I signed everybody up for the medley relay!"_

_"Yeah, so let's swim together tomorrow, Haru-chan."_

_"I'll be fine! I'll have the theory memorized by tomorrow!"_

_"Rei-chan, that's a sure sign that you'll fail."_

_~End of message.~_

Haru didn't know what to think. He gazed at Makoto, sleeping so soundly, and memories of their conversation on the deserted island blended with Nagisa and Rei's message, creating a torrent of voices in his head. _It has to be you! I want to swim with you!_ They all wanted him to swim. They we're all counting on him... But those voices were soon overridden by an eery mirthless chuckle. Those red eyes burned into his mind and suddenly the water was filled with frenzied killer sharks all thirsting for blood. Haru's stomach twisted at the thought and he gripped his sides, suddenly feeling ill, dropping his cellphone in the process._  
_

Makoto's eyes drifted open at the clattering sound and he was surprised to see Haru standing before him.

"Haru?" He jumped to his feet at the look of discomfort on Haru's face. "Are you okay?"

Haru closed his eyes and forced the sickening feeling down, not wanting to frighten Makoto. "I'm fine." was what Haru said, but the lingering sensation of Rin's hands gripping him ensured that he was anything but. He could never tell Makoto what had happened in the locker room.

Makoto bent down to pick up Haru's phone. "I see you got the message." Haru simply nodded, staring determinedly at his feet. He was afraid to look Makoto in the eye, afraid of what Makoto might see. They had known each other for too long, Makoto could read him far too easily for comfort.

"I know you didn't really want to swim in the medley relay but—"

"I can't, Makoto." Makoto's warm expression slowly faded as he processed Haru's words. Haru couldn't bear to see the apprehension in Makoto's eyes; Haru felt tired, and he just wanted this day to end. He leaned forward until his forehead was resting against Makoto's chest. "I can't swim."

* * *

It was the second day of regionals and Rin still felt shaken by his nightmare from the night before. He had had dreams of his father before but his father had always been happy or smiling. That look of disapproval in his eyes... it was chilling. And Haru's blood... Rin quickly shook his head to chase away the thought before it could give him goosebumps.

"Matsuoka-senpai! Come with me! Quick!" Nitori was running towards Rin at full speed.

"What is it? It's not time for Samezuka's relay yet." Rin was blatantly disinterested in anything Nitori had to say. He wasn't up for his antics at the moment.

"No! I just saw the lane assignments for the medley relay, and Nanase-san's club is in the relay!" Rin's mind jolted at his words and disbelief flashed across his face.

"Huh?"

* * *

"W-Wait for me, Matsuoka-senpai!" Nitori called out pleadingly as Rin sprinted down the hall, ignoring Nitori's voice. He held his hand up to block the sun from his eyes as he exited the main building. He glanced around quickly before locating the registration table. He stalked determinedly towards the poor woman manning the table.

He snatched up the listing for the medley relay from the multiple sign up sheets spread out across the surface of the table. "Iwatobi High School" was staring back at Rin in undeniable black typing directly below "Samezuka Academy". Rin turned his frustration onto the woman who had been ignoring him while slowly fanning herself with a clipboard.

"Ma'am, is this the listing for today's medley relay?" Rin shoved the paper towards her, demanding clarification. She gazed at him for a moment before turning her disinterest to the paper in his hand. With a sigh, she reached out and took the paper from him. At the top of the page, in large bold letters, the words "**Medley Relay Sign Up Sheet**" were typed out. By now, she was quite certain this boy with oddly shark-like qualities was mentally deficient.

"Yes hun, this is the listing." Rin scowled. He didn't know what he'd been expecting. It makes sense that Haru's club would want to do the relay as well as the individual events. So why did the idea of Haru swimming in a relay infuriate him so much? Meanwhile, the woman had begun scanning the names of the schools. Her brows furrowed when she reached Iwatobi High School.

"What?" Rin demanded. "What is it?"

"I asked them for the updated versions of the lists this morning, they must've forgotten..." She mumbled to herself as she uncapped a thick black Sharpie and proceeded to cross out Iwatobi from the list.

"Why isn't Iwatobi in the relay anymore?" Rin snapped. He was losing his already non-existent patience with this woman. The woman didn't even bother to look up, instead shifting her attention to the other lists, most likely checking for other errors.

"I'm sorry, dear, I don't know. Someone received a phone call from the club manager early this morning."

"Manager?" _Gou. _Rin drifted away from the registration table as he dug around in the pockets of his track suit, searching for his phone. He fumbled to get the phone open and nearly dropped it in the process. _Why was he in such a hurry?_

He had Gou in speed dial and in seconds he could hear her voice coming through the receiver. She sounded sullen and groggy.

"Brother? Is something wrong? Aren't you at regionals today?"

"Yeah, I'm at regionals. Why aren't you here? I thought Iwatobi was swimming in today's relay." Rin chewed the inside of his cheek, desperately trying to fight back his curiosity.

There was a pause before he heard Gou sigh deeply. "Well, everyone was so nice and willing to do the relay even though I didn't tell them that I'd signed them up for it until yesterday." Rin smirked at that. Of course Gou would do something like that without asking for permission first.

"We only needed Haruka-senpai to agree to do it too but he must've left regionals early," Rin flinched at this, "because we couldn't find him anywhere. We went to his house to wait for him but he never showed up. We tried calling his phone too but he'd left it at home. When it got really late, Makoto said he'd stay behind at Haru's house and wait for him so the rest of us went home." Rin bit down on his cheek a little too hard at the mention of Makoto waiting up for Haru.

"This morning, I received a text from Makoto. He said that Haru was sick and couldn't swim in the relay. But don't worry brother, I'll be there soon to watch you swim. I'm just finishing getting ready right now."

"Okay then, see you soon." Rin hung up before Gou could say another word. He didn't want to be rude to his sister but his head had suddenly begun throbbing like it'd been hit by a wrecking ball.

Haru too sick to swim? Since when?! Haru swam so often that he _made_ himself sick from overexposure to cold water. Gou had mentioned to him how Haru had dove into the Iwatobi pool without hesitation the moment they had finished refurbishing it even though it still wasn't warm enough outside. Rin couldn't imagine a single thing on this planet that could keep Haru from swimming. None of it made sense to him. He clenched his hands into fists and ground his razor sharp teeth together. Images of Haru's emotionless eyes and limp body flashed through his mind. He could hear his own moans ringing in his head again. He could hear the weak echos of Haru's body banging against the lockers with each of his thrusts. It was like watching a horrible movie on constant repeat.

Suddenly, a crackling sound pierced the air and a voice came on over the speakers. The Samezuka Academy medley relay was about to start.

* * *

A week later, Rin received a call from Makoto. He sounded frenzied and panicked and... angry? Rin hadn't recognized the voice as Makoto's at first because he couldn't remember a single occasion where Makoto had raised his voice or lost his temper with anyone.

"Wait, wait, Makoto, slow down. I can't understand you." Rin was seated at the edge of his dorm bed, absentmindedly drying his hair with a towel. He'd just stepped out of the shower when his phone had started ringing.

He heard Makoto take a deep breath to calm himself. "Rin, something's wrong with Haru. Ever since regionals, he's been acting especially distant and cold. He talks even less than usual and he panics whenever somebody tries to touch him—"

"It's not my fault Haru can't handle a taste of his own medicine. It's about time he dealt with the pain of losing." Rin chose to block out Makoto's words. Haru wasn't of any concern to him anymore and the last thing he needed was more fuel for his nightmares. Those awful, awful nightmares that refused to go away and only got progressively worse with each passing night.

"You know as well as I do that Haru doesn't caring about winning or losing, Rin." Makoto's tone became ominously stern. Rin scowled and refused to say a word. He wouldn't put up with much more of Makoto patronizing him.

"There's more to swimming than winning..." Makoto continued, his voice growing quiet and distant. "At least, Haru thought there was something more. That's why he wanted to race you." Makoto paused before continuing. He hated to admit this to Rin. Haru's blind dedication to Rin had always bothered him. "And I'm pretty sure you're the one who taught him what that something was. When we swam in that relay in grade school, you—"

"What do I care?! I beat Haru! That's all that matters." Rin was seconds away from hanging up the phone when Makoto's next words froze him straight to the bone.

"Haru won't swim anymore, Rin."

Rin's dorm room suddenly seemed miles and miles away. The only thing connecting him to Earth at this point were those five simple words. Those five simple words that seemed so incredibly insignificant out of context, but to Rin, they carried the weight of a death sentence.

"What?" He managed to utter, his grip on his phone tightening.

"Aside from showers, Haru hasn't been in the water once since regionals." Makoto sounded incredibly tired, like someone had knocked all the wind out of him. He had lost countless hours of sleep this week worrying about Haru. The breaking point had been when Makoto noticed the plaid hem of regular boxers peaking out above Haru's jeans instead of his usual jammers. Makoto had always known that Rin had a strong effect on Haru but there wasn't a doubt in his mind that Rin must've done something pretty extreme to push Haru this far over the edge.

When Rin remained silent, Makoto seized his opportunity. He was determined to get an answer from Rin.

"Rin, what did you do to Haru?"

Rin remained silent, his wet hair long forgotten, as Makoto's words circled in his mind. _Haru won't swim anymore. _Rin shook his head and sighed.

He'd majorly fucked up this time, hadn't he?

* * *

Please don't hate me for taking away Haru's swimming. I hope you guys don't think it's too extreme of a plot device. I wrote this as quickly as I could so please overlook any spelling issues or grammatical errors. I'll go through and edit this chapter properly as soon as I have the time. By the time this fic is finished, I'm thinking it'll be roughly six chapters long. Also, I know some of you are worried about this fic becoming a MakoHaru fic. Let me assure you that, at least for this fic, RinHaru will be endgame 100%. However, I can't be held accountable for any slight deviations along the way. ;)

Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)


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